Tag Archive for Stephen Hawking

Run-of-the-Mill Humans

Stephen Hawking was a great scientist. He had the world and future figured out and lived long enough to see some of it  confirmed. Sometimes he commented on humanity, as well.  Such as in today’s Thursday Thought quote.

“We are all different. There is no such thing as a standard or run-of-the-mill human being, but we share the same human spirit.” –Stephen Hawking

I Never Thought of That!

Sometimes simple logic can be, if not earth-shaking, at least entertaining.  Consider these logicalities. [Thanks to Linda Younts for sending me these.]

  • If you attempt to rob a bank you won’t have any trouble with rent/food bills for the next 10 years, whether or not you are successful.
  • Every time you clean something, you just make something else dirty.
  • The word “swims” upside-down is still “swims.”
  • Intentionally losing a game of rock, paper, scissors is just as hard as trying to win.
  • 100 years ago everyone owned a horse and only the rich had cars.  Today everyone has cars and only the rich own horses.
  • The doctors that told Stephen Hawking he had two years to live in 1953 are probably dead.
  • If you replace “W” with “T” in “What, Where and When” you get the answer to each of them.
  • If you rip a hole in a net, there are actually fewer holes in it than there were before.

Hawking on Machines and Equality

Will machines make our lives easier and more comfortable in the future?  Maybe it depends on who you are.  In today’s Thursday Thought, Stephen Hawking takes a look into the future.

“If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.”